A Tale of Two
by Jazmina
Summary: Set in medievil times. Lily is the princess of Italy, James is prince of England. they are to get married when Lily turns 16. only problem is, they hate each other.
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the HP series belongs to the great and wonderful J K Rowling and the WB. Everything else is mine.

Chapter One-The Beginning

            Long, long ago, in a time when dragons were feared, knights were heroes, and magic was still young, there were two friendly kingdoms, Italy and Europa. They were extremely eager to join the two territories, but didn't know how to go about it. For you see, the most popular way of doing it then was war. And friends just don't do that sort of thing. However, it came to be that an extremely wise man by the name of Albus Dumbledore gave them some extremely wise advice, stating that marriage was the only way to join them peacefully. He also thought it a great way to defeat a dark and feared wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort. But he never shared this opinion. However, Italy's king and queen Joferus and Kylani Evansio had only one daughter, Petunia. Coincidentally, the queen was currently pregnant, and they were praying it was a female. 

            The king and queen of Europa, Kane and Christine Potter, had a two-year-old son named James. He was too young to marry the eleven-year-old princess of Italy, which was why everyone in both countries were hoping against hope that the baby in Queen Kylani's womb was a girl. If the newborn child was a girl, she could marry James and the two kingdoms would be bonded peacefully forevermore as one. Finally, the day came when the baby was born on a warm July afternoon. Oh what bliss descended upon them, for it was a girl to be named Liliattica Jasminitto Rosetta Evansio. She was named after her mother's three absolute favorite flowers, a lily, a jasmine, and a rose. A great ball was held celebrating the joyous event, and every noble throughout the two lands was invited. Then a marriage was arranged, to be held sometime after she turned sixteen. But just so that they got used to each other, they would visit every summer and winter of every year until they learned of their wedding plans. 

            As Lily grew to be excruciatingly beautiful, James grew up to be dashingly handsome. Lily had golden-red curls tumbling down her back, two rosy cheeks against her olive skin, and the most beautiful sparkling green eyes that, if even possible, seemed to hold a wink of laughter. James had the most gorgeous chocolate brown eyes and an award-winning smile. He also had this messy head of hair that strangely seemed to add to his good looks. Lily turned out to be much of tomboy. She preferred her breeches to dresses, riding and pranks to balls and tea parties, and she absolutely _despised_ pink. She could ride anything from the wildest horse from Mongolia, to the craziest bull from Spain. She never played with many girls, because she thought they were boy-crazy and ditzy (at least her sister's friends were). James was an average boy wizard who loved pranking and blowing things up. I emphasize the part on BLOWING THINGS UP, thank you very much. At the time, he thought all girls had cooties, but that was _soon_ to change. He had three best friends by the names of Sirius, Peter, and Remus, who were also of magic bloodline. 

            Lily also happened to be a witch. Which was a plus to the marriage plans because the Potters came from a long line of wizards, and would have preferred to continue their family line with magical blood. Now that they knew that Lily was a witch, their wishes were secure. Not only was she a witch, but an important one at that. She was prophesized to have special powers that other powerful magical beings could only dream of. This could result in either good, or bad. Of course, _they_ didn't know this as of yet.

            On a warm June morning, in her seventh year of life, Lily's father took her on a trip, but refused to tell her where they were going. Being impatient, this irritated her to no end. "Father _please_ tell me?" she, for the millionth time, pleaded. He gave her another firm _no_ and told her to be tolerant. She imagined him shaking his head, being as she couldn't see him at the moment. She decided that she'd had quite enough at this point.

            "First, you've blindfolded me telling me you're taking me on a ride for a… a _surprise_, now you've shoved me onto a ship, telling me to 'be tolerant' like some spoiled little cat!" she said angrily. He finally took the blindfold off and gave her a shocked look.

            "How on earth did you know about the ship?" he cried in wonder. 

            "Father, do you honestly think I'm that stupid? You've put me in a dress that's _pink**.**_ And besides, I've heard you and mother talking about it for weeks now about how exciting it is for me to go to England and meet the oh-so-wonderful Prince _James _of _Europa_!" she yelled in exasperation. "And, last time I checked, carriages _don't _float." Her father gave her a stern look. 

            "Now Lily," he said. "You are a princess, which means that you must appear respectful, presentable,-''

            "Poised, confident, and mature." she finished. "You always say that. And if a dress makes me look like all those things, why, in God's name, did it have to be… _pink_!!!" she cried.

            "Are you kidding!" he said. "Why, pink brings out the red in your cheeks!!!"

            "Does not!"

            "Does too!"

            "Does not!"

            "Does too!"

            "Does not!"

            "Does too!"

            "Does not!"

            "Does too!"

            "Does not!"

            "Does too!"

            "Does not times a thousand!"

            "Does too times a million! Ha!" he cried. What a toddler of a king…

            "Fine," she pouted. "But may I please change it green?" He thought about it for a moment. 

            "No," he finally said.

            "Bu-" 

            "Ah ah ah! No buts young lady. Your mother picked it out and we both agree that it looks _belicimo _on you." He said. She sighed. _This is going to be a long day. _She thought.

*************

            "Now remember James," Queen Christine said. "You must be polite to her. Compliment her, invite her inside, oh and don't forget your obligations as a gentleman of the court and _kiss her hand._" He gasped in horror.

            "What? Mother you can't be serious!" the ten-year-old James cried. "Girls are gross! They have… _cooties_." 

            "James! Girls most certainly do not have cooties. _I'm_ a girl and you let _me_ kiss you_._" she said sternly. "_Besides_, you need to show her some respect while she's here for the summer. Maybe you can introduce her to your friends. They're staying too if I remember correctly. You know Sirius, Remus and… and… oh dear what is that fellow's name again?" 

            James sighed. "Peter, mum, it's _Peter_!" he sighed again._ This is going to be a long summer_. he thought. Jus then he heard the footsteps of a galloping horse.

            "Oh my, they're early! Now remember what I said." She said, giving him a slight glare. He merely nodded. Then the gates opened to reveal a girl of about seven or eight riding a white pony with an auburn mane and tail to match her rider's hair. But what he was really interested in was that the girl was riding like a man would ride. Not really riding, but _speeding,_ she was almost like a blur! And she looked like she was having a ball. She finally halted to a stop when she saw a boy of about ten years standing below her. She jumped off to greet him. _She's kind of pretty, I _guess_,_ he thought. _Sirius would like her. She doesn't look like a real princess, except for that hideous pink dress; she actually looks like a nasty little prankster. Good, little does she know they'll be played on _her_! _He then continued his thoughts of some good (well, more like _naughty_) pranks. 

_            Hmm,_ she thought. _So he's __Prince __James__. He doesn't seem so wonderful to me. Maybe he knows how to play football…_ and her thoughts continued from there.

            They stared each other down in that manner for quite some time until they were interrupted.

            "_Ahem_," the queen… well, _interrupted_. 

            "Oh, err… it's a _pleasure_ to _finally_ make your acquaintance. I am Prince _James_ _Mathew_ _Potter_ of the kingdom of _Europa_." She looked at him strangely. _Fine,_ she thought, _you want to be fancy I'll be fancy_. 

            "_My_ name is _Liliattica Jasminitto Rosetta Evansio_, and the _pleasure_ must be mine for I have _never_ met such great a royalty as you." She grinned. _Try to figure that one out, idiot. _He noticed the slight Italian accent in her voice. It made her sound sort of _exotic_. Though he would _never_ admit it. Finally her exhausted father rode up. (A/N: How do you get exhausted riding a horse?) 

            "Really Lily, you need to slow down!" he panted. "You must have knocked over at least half of the village at the rate you were going!" 

            As she rolled her eyes, James put his hand out as a gesture to shake her hand, or so she _thought_. So eventually she took his hand. He swallowed hard, _Okay, here it goes._ And he quickly pecked her hand. She pulled it away almost as soon as the gesture was done and began wiping her hand on her dress. _Ewww,_ she thought, _That's__ disgusting!!! If he does that again I'm gonna barf, then give him a _black eye_! _James thoughts were along the same line, _excluding_ the black eye. When she looked back at him, he was wiping his mouth vigorously. Then she saw her father's servants turn up in the carriages with bags in their hands. Bags of clothes. _Girl_ clothes. Enough clothes, it looked, for the whole _summer_. Then it dawned upon her. 

            "Father, you're not leaving me here the whole _summer_, are you?" she said turning to her father, who was in the middle of quite an important conversation with the queen. He sighed, and turned around.

            "I am afraid that I must. But I promise, that you will have fun." He said. "Oh, and by the way, _please_ don't injure any of the boys." And he turned to leave. She stared after him in disbelief, with her mouth hanging open.

             "Well… then, I suppose we should… well, _go_." said the queen, with the last words of King Joferus lingering on her mind. "James, be a dear and take her bags inside." and with that she turned and left them in the courtyard. He sighed and made a grab for her bags, when Lily whipped around and said through gritted teeth,

            "Lay a hand on my things and I _swear_ I'll break your arm." She then picked up her things and briskly walked off in the direction of the castle. James sighed, _Like I said, this is gonna be one _hell_ of a long summer._ And he followed to the castle up ahead.

*************

            Later that day, Lily was on her way down for dinner when she got lost throughout the castle halls**.** She sighed. _Stupid halls._ she thought. Frustrated she punched the wall, not very hard, but still leaving a visible crack in the stone. As she turned the corner, she bumped into somebody. "Oww." they both cried. She looked to see, who would guess, _James_ sitting on the floor, opposite her.

            "Where _were_ you?" he asked. She looked at him exasperatingly. 

            "I got lost you _idiot_. Why _else_ would I be wandering these halls?" 

            "Oh." Was all he could say, realizing how stupid he must've sounded. They went trough dozens of dozens of hallways turning left, then right, then left again. After at least an hour of walking, on their twenty-seventh left, she finally asked 

            "Do you have the least bit idea of where you're going?" sounding more than a little annoyed. 

            "Err… _yeah_, sort of… um, no. _But_ someone will have to look for us eventually." He said with slight hope. She blinked a few times. 

            "Eventually? _EVENTUALLY!!!_ Look, I'm starving here, and before _EVENTUALLY _even comes, we'll probably _die!!!_" and, with a huff, she began muttering obscenities to herself in Italian about a particularly stupid English prince. As they turned the corner, they bumped into somebody, _again_. A rather _large_ somebody. 

            "Why, 'hullo there master Potter. Wha' brings yerself here? And with a _lady!_" said a man that looked to be more of a giant than anything else, turning to Lily, he introduced himself. "Me name's Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid's me name." he said. 

            "It's nice to meet you Hagrid," she wasted no time. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but how do you get out of here?" he looked at her confusedly. Then it hit him.

            "Oh, so _yer_ the princess girl from Italy. What's 'er name… err… Lily?" 

            She nodded and said, "Please sir, if I don't get to some food now, I will become _hysterical!!!_" He chuckled at her dramatic demeanor and led them to the kitchens. There she saw a most peculiar sight. Little, grubby, elf-like people bustling around them, in their busy-like ways. She found them very interesting. An especially delightful and tiny one with a pair of big blue sparkling eyes came up to her with dishes, utensils, and things in her hands and said, in a soft pixie-like voice, 

            "Would miss like Nicola to get something to eat for her?" Lily grinned.

            "Hi, my name is Lily, and yes, I would like something to eat." Nicola smiled, took her hand, and led her to a table of, "_FOOD!!!_" Lily cried. She got so excited she ran to the table and began eating hurriedly. Little Lily hardly noticed all the eyes on her because anyone who knew her knew that she was a rather _LARGE_ eater.  She was probably consuming at least three pounds a minute, while James, Hagrid, and the house-elves were watching all the while. 

            "I must say, she is _quite_ the eater." Hagrid commented. After everyone had eaten to their fullest, in Lily's case _more_ than just a LOT, they were led by Hagrid to their sleeping quarters. After Lily, being the last to go, was tucked in, Hagrid hoarsely whispered, "If ya ever need a favor or a friend, just come an' see me up at the north tower." and with that he gave her a hearty wink and blew out the candles. She grinned at him through the darkness.

             "Good night Hagrid, and thanks."

            He smiled back and said, "G'night princess." and he ducked out and shut the door. With that she fell into a deep sleep, wondering how she would ever survive the summer._ Well,_ she thought,_ at least I've got a friend…_

A/N: Okay hope you liked it. Chapter 2 coming up soon! See ya!!!  Oh and please review!!!


	2. Summer Blues

A/N: WOW!!! I got reviews!!! I didn't think I'd get any! Okay here's chapter 2. Hope u like!!!  
  
Disclaimer: anything u recognize from the hp series belongs to the great and wonderful jk rowling and the wb. Everything else is mine.  
  
Chapter Two-Summer Blues  
  
Lily was in the middle of a very pleasant dream when she heard a faint whispering above her head. She figured it was a part of her dream, so she tried to make it go away. But it still continued. The disturbance continued till she was finally awake with her eyes closed and fully out of any dream sequence she was previously in. and even then she could still hear it. She finally turned on her back and opened her eyes; and she screamed bloody murder. Because what she saw was enough to make any seven-year-old child scream. She saw four young boys, three were unbeknownst to her, and one was a person whom she didn't seem to like or get along with, towering over her.  
  
"Wow James, you didn't tell me she was pretty." said a boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes that twinkled with the same laughter Lily's eyes had. He actually looked remarkably like James except his hair looked like it was actually combed.  
  
"Yup, I have to agree, she is quite a gem." said another one, a bit shorter and stubbier than the first, with light blonde hair and pale blue eyes.  
  
"Um.guys?" said a third, with light brown hair and hazel eyes. "I don't think she wants us to be here." he continued nervously glancing at Lily, who was sitting up now and, at the moment, was looking very angry, and VERY dangerous.  
  
"James Mathew Potter, you and your crackpot friends had better get out of my room NOW!!!" she shouted.  
  
"Wow," said the one with brown eyes. "and she's got a mouth!" she glared daggers at them all, especially the brown-haired one. He gulped, realizing the danger he was in and said, "I agree with Remus, we should leave." the blonde stubby one began to stutter uncontrollably.  
  
"Y-yeah J-J-James. L-lets g-g-g-go." he stuttered. The three left quietly leaving James to Lily's wrath.  
  
"C'mon you guys! She's harmless!" he called after them. He then turned around to look at her when there she was, standing in front of him, dressed, and really angry.  
  
He gave her a weak smile and nervously muttered, "Heh, heh. Just kidding?" she then gave him an uppercut punch right in the jaw. He fell backwards onto the floor, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. He groaned as she walked past him and out of the room. The boys outside watched her leave. When they were sure she was gone, they walked into the room to see James sprawled out on the floor bleeding.  
  
"So much for the term 'harmless'." said the one called Remus.  
  
**********  
  
After breakfast, the boys saw Lily go outside to the garden. They saw their chance, and the three boys came up to her, dragging James along. There was an awkward silence at first. James rolled his eyes. Some one finally broke the silence.  
  
"Before we get started, I'm Sirius Black, the blonde one is Peter Pettigrew, and the other hazel eyed kid is Remus Lupin." Another silence broke out upon them.  
  
"Um. look," said the Remus kid. "We're all really sorry about the whole 'wake up with a bunch of strangers hovering over your head' thing. So are we even?" He sounded sincere. Lily almost considered forgiving them when her thoughts were interrupted.  
  
"Hey, since when do I get a say in this? I'm not sorry at all." James said in an obnoxious manner.  
  
"James, we're trying to make a truce here." said Remus.  
  
"Well, I'm not apologizing."  
  
"Yes you are."  
  
"No I'm not."  
  
"Yes you are!"  
  
"NO I'M NOT!"  
  
"YES YOU ARE!!!" they all cried in union.  
  
Lily watched in amusement as they quarreled. Then a sudden idea popped into her head. She picked up a handful of dirt and summoned a pouch. She sprinkled the dirt in carefully, while repeating, Veda Funnietco Explodacious. As the dust fell from her hand, it changed from a brownish- blackish to a crimson color. When all the dirt in the pouch was fully colored, she tied the pouch, shook it up, threw it at the boys, and ran. As soon as she thought she was far enough, she looked back to watch the spectacle.  
  
"Payback time." She whispered ginning meschievieously.  
  
"Now as soon as we-hey what's that?" Remus asked, bending over a small pouch that had landed by his feet. Then, suddenly, it exploded, spewing a crimson colored dust on them all. They all began to cough, eyes burning. As the air cleared, they all looked to see what had happened. When they saw each other, they began to laugh hysterically.  
  
"R-R-Remus, y-you look l-like th-th-the jesters at my p-parents' last ball, b-but f-f-funnier!" James managed to say between laughs.  
  
"YOU LOOK LIKE A GIRL!!!" Remus shouted back. Suddenly they stopped laughing when they looked at themselves. Remus was wearing a blue body suit with green polka-dots and a matching jester's hat completed with bells dangling at the ends. Sirius was dressed like a teddy bear, stuffing included. Peter was dressed somewhat like a piggy with a nose and ears to go with it. James had to be the worst by far. He was dressed in a pink dress and his hair was longer and. blue?  
  
"WHO DID THIS TO US?!?!?" James shouted.  
  
But before anyone could answer, they realized someone was watching, as well as laughing her head off. It was Lily. When she finally got control of herself, they watched as she took out a scroll with the royal Italian seal on it. Then she walked up to them in an airy manner and cleared her throat.  
  
She handed the scroll to Sirius and said, "Good day."  
  
And she walked away, struggling with stifling her laughter. They all stared at her, jaws dropping. Sirius opened the scroll, read it, and chuckled. They all looked at him strangely. He showed the note to Remus, then to Peter, and they started to laugh too. As soon as James came over to look at it, he began to laugh as well. The contents read, in kinda neat kinda sloppy writing: Now We're Even. They all looked at each other, all thinking the same thing; She's way in over her head.  
  
**********  
  
Lily walked through the winding halls, desperately trying to remember where the kitchens were so that she could visit Nicola. Suddenly she heard something. It sounded like some scuffling and some whispering. It was coming closer. She became suspicious. The only reason she could hear these sounds was because it was one of her special powers. If she wanted, she could magnify her hearing 1,000,000 times her normal hearing, or she could become deafer than deaf. If she hadn't had this power, what came next would have surprised her completely. A bucket of what seemed to be cold water splashed over her and, from behind, someone blindfolded her, spun her around, and tied her hands behind her back. She sighed. Boys are complete idiots. she thought. She heard the laughing voices of four boys.  
  
"Did you really think that you, a girl, could get away with that little prank? Ha! I think not." said a voice she recognized as James.  
  
"Hey Lil," said another voice that sounded like Sirius. "Now we're even."  
  
She then heard more laughing. She rolled her eyes. The thick rope was tied so tightly that any other person would take days to free themselves alone. Lily on the other hand also had super strength, so she could beak through it as easily as if it were thread or a strand of hair that held her captive. And she did, too. They watched in amazement as she easily broke out of the ropes, un-blindfolded herself, and dried herself magically without a spell or a wand.  
  
"H-how did y-you . huh?" stuttered a dumbfounded James.  
  
"Potter, I'm a witch. I can do magic. I mean, can't you?"  
  
"Not without a wand." he replied. Being seven years old, she did not comprehend it's importance. So she blinked a few times, shrugged, and walked away. They all stared after her in disbelief.  
  
The rest of the day continued full of explosions, shouting, thrown objects, and a few body parts that Lily either bruised or broke. Of course they were mended easily, but that wasn't the point of it. At the end of the day Lily sighed as she looked around at her room. Last night she was too tired to notice that it was full of dolls, lace and ribbons that matched the pink walls. And this morning she was a little, err, preoccupied. She shuddered at the thought of sleeping here again. She took out her wand that had been lying forgotten on her bed the whole day. She muttered a spell and the room blinked a few times, then it finally became identical to her room at home. Green, messy, and full of junk all over the floor. She was indeed very messy, or 'organizationally challenged' as she would term it. She smiled contently at her surroundings. She sighed happily and put on an overly large silk men's blouse that belonged to her father. She always slept in them ever since she could remember. She crawled into bed and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell to sleep.  
  
**********  
  
James crawled into his bed with thoughts of some new pranks to play. He decided that he should go to the next level. Magic. He was really good at it, especially transfiguration (A/N: hint, hint. nudge, nudge.). She's not gonna know what hit her he thought. He was glad that his friends were there to spend the summer with him. He yawned and went to sleep dreaming of all the horrible things he could do to the great and wonderful Princess Lily.  
  
**********  
  
The rest of the summer continued just as the first. Lily would always wake up with the four boys towering over her, thus waking up the rest of castle with her blood-curling screams. Up until the twenty-ninth of July, which happened to be her birthday. She woke up to see the same four faces that came to greet her every morning. She got the same "G'morning Lil!" from Sirius, but instead of screaming her head off she just sighed.  
  
"Good morning Sirius. Now please leave, it would make things a lot easier." she said weakly.  
  
"What, no shouting? No death threats? Are you sick?" asked a worried James as he checked her forehead. Slightly annoyed, she knocked his hand away and sat up.  
  
"No, I'm fine, it's just that it's my birthday and. *sigh* never mind." she said sighing.  
  
Sirius sat next to her saying, in a 'caring' tone, "Our wittle Lily Wily is turning eight today. Aww!" hugging her a little too tightly. She squirmed a little.  
  
"Air, S-Sirius, p-p-please." she said, gasping for air. He smiled sheepishly and let her go. Suddenly an idea popped into James's head.  
  
"C'mon you guys, let's give her some space." he said, holding the large wooden doors open. They all looked at him strangely. This was highly strange because it was unlike James to care about whether or not Lily was happy. They eventually got up and left.  
  
As Sirius was leaving, he muttered, "Are you sure there's nothing wrong with you?"  
  
James rolled his eyes and muttered back, "I have a plan, trust me." And he left. Lily watched them leave. She knew to be extra careful today. She had heard what James said and she was ready.  
  
A/N: ok that was it. Next chapter is a lot more detailed (and a lot longer, unfortunately. .). But after chapter three, the next few will be about what happens when she come for the winter season. Until then, bye! 


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